


Tidal Waves

by SweetSilentSteps



Category: Borderlands
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Humor, Start of a Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 15:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8108278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetSilentSteps/pseuds/SweetSilentSteps
Summary: Tannis and Zed never really gave each other the benefit of a doubt, then they took a proper look.





	1. The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my tumblr but I thought I'd upload it for the archive community so it's more readily available when people wanna read it :)

He never really did like leaving his office unattended during the day. Especially not since the new batch of vault hunters showed up. They were always showing up with odd injuries or even that one bad case of slag poisoning. That hadn't been a fun afternoon for him, or the young Mecromancer. Thankfully though she was tougher than she looked and she had her friends for support. As much as they were idiots, they made an excellent team, just like the original group that he'd nursed back to health on more than one occasion.   
But today Zed had a different purpose for visiting Raiders HQ. True he had to check up on Roland after his ordeal with the bloodshots, but there was someone else he needed to talk to more. As much as he despised her actual medical degree, with the vault hunters off God knows where, he had to deliver this to her himself. So he made his way across Sanctuary, having closed down shop for ten, and into HQ. She was sitting behind her desk right next to the door, talking into her ECHO recorder.   
"...bacon is for sycophants and products of incest." She shuddered as she pushed the off button and then swivelled around in her chair to see him standing there on the other side of her desk. She raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Is it me you require?" She asked, shuffling around in her papers on the desk, seeming to avoid eye contact. Zed sighed. This was why he'd wanted the vault hunters to do this. He dug something out of his pocket and dropped it onto the table in front of her.   
"Decent condition eridium chunk, pulled it out of some bandits stomach. Thought you might want it." Tannis looked to the chunk for a moment, then up at Zed, then back at the chunk. Taking that as his cue to leave, Zed turned and marched out of HQ. Well that hadn't been awkward at all.

Later, once he'd reopened his office and had to patch up the gunzerker, he found himself behind his own desk, shifting through papers and jotting down some notes. Hearing the door open, he didn't even look up. "I'll be right with ya." He assumed it was Roland, probably coming to tell him something he didn't wish to hear like usual.   
"That won't be necessary doctor, this won't take long."   
His head shot up and turned to the other occupant in the room. What the HELL was Tannis doing in his surgery? He stood slowly.  
"What were you after?" He asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the desk.   
"I came to find answers." She said bluntly before digging out the eridium chunk he'd given her earlier and holding it out in her palm. "Why did you give me this?"  
He was admittedly taken off guard. He brushed a hand back over his hair, smoothing back the slowly silvering hairs.  
"I thought you were into all that eridium crap?"   
"Of course I am, finding the vault is an important and scientific discovery that fascinates me yet I find myself baffled by this." She gestured to the chunk. "This chunk."  
"What are you getting at woman?"  
"It's clean doctor, clean."  
"What's so wrong with that?"  
"You are the one who gave it to me. By the state of your work place and your general attire, cleanliness is clearly not a forte of yours."  
Now that made him mad.   
"Now see here you stuffy..." He'd barely taken three steps towards her, not even halfway through his angry rant, before blood started spurting from her nose, dripping down her face and onto her shirt.  
"Aw hell." Now he felt guilty and hurried over to snatch up a cloth. She was cradling her face, seeming to try and stop the rest of the blood from dripping onto her shirt. He came back over to her, but apparently his help was unwanted as she simply snatched the cloth and pressed it to her face, retreating from him.   
"I can handle this myself doctor." She hurriedly tried to wipe all the blood away, only really succeeding in spearing it across her face. Zed sighed.  
"You got..uh.." He said, trying to point out what she'd done wrong. She didn't seem to quite get it, only making it worse.  
"Here." He tried to get close again, but she only dodged out of range again. "God damn it I'm tryin to help you."  
"I told you I have it!" She insisted. This time when he moved, he managed to catch her arm.  
"Stay still for two gol-darn seconds." She seemed to have frozen when he touched her and he took the opportunity to step close and bring the towel up to her face, wiping away the smeared blood off her face completely. With that done, he took the cloth with him as he stepped away.   
"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" He threw the cloth into the hamper in the corner and turned back to her. She was still standing where he'd left her, seeming bemused by something.   
"You alright?" He asked and it took a few moments before she nodded.  
"As strange as it may sound, you may approach me."  
He raised an eyebrow, but stepped back over towards her. Was he becoming part of some weird experiment? He stopped less than a metre away from her, crossing his arms. Tannis copied his pose, looking up at him. He'd never really focused on how green her eyes really were, at least not till now when they were staring at him.  
"Hm. Fascinating."  
"What's that?"  
"No violent bursting of blood vessels though you are very close to me."  
"Then what was before?"  
"Perhaps the realisation of making you upset. I apologise."  
"It's fine." He could shrug it off like everything else.  
"But you have yet to answer my original question; why did you clean the chunk before offering it to me?"  
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, or if the tips of his ears were really turning as red as they felt.   
"Figured you'd appreciate it not being covered in guts." He said, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.   
"I did." There was a moments pause where they simply looked at each other. "I believe this is where I say thank you Doctor Blanco."  
"Call me Zed." He said automatically. His last name felt to formal.  
"Very well, thank you Zed." Tannis corrected.  
"You're welcome Tannis."  
"You may refer to me by my first name as well Zed." She said, a small smile lining her lips.  
"What like, Patricia?" The name rolled off his tongue more nicely than he cared to admit.  
"Yes."  
"You're welcome then, Patricia."


	2. Second Guessing It

"You see that in there, that purple stuff, that's how I know it's slag poisoning." Zed had been operating for less than an hour, the bandits chest in front of him split open. He wasn't too concerned about being too careful though, the bastard had been dead long before Zed had gotten to him. The woman across from him was scribbling down notes on her notepad, looking between the mans open chest and her page.  
"Fascinating. Forming a first name basis with you was a worthwhile endeavour." Tannis lent over the mans chest further, trying to peer in even more.  
"Glad I'm good for somethin'" He muttered, waving her back so he could get in and cut out the lungs for her so she could peer in further.   
"Careful Trish...that veins looking kinda.."  
All of a sudden the vein exploded, spurting violet stained blood violently into Patricia's face. For a moment she was left stunned, still lent over the body. Zed shook his head. He'd tried to warn her. He grabbed a cloth and handed it to her. She wiped her face off hurriedly, muttering about the hygiene quality of his workplace, for the nth time since she'd arrived. She tossed the cloth back to him and looked down at her notes.   
"It seems I'll have to rewrite all these notes.." She lamented, shaking them as if the blood would simply come off.   
"That ain't my fault, I tried to warn you." He said resting his tools aside and stepping away from the body. He peeled off his gloves and threw them into the nearby bin. "If you really don't wanna do it, leave 'em on the table and I'll fix it up for you." He'd leave the body to sit a while let the rest of the slag infused blood vessels pop without anyone getting covered in it.  
"I cannot read your hand writing. No I'll just do it myself." She said with a wave her hand to signal she was leaving for now. It'd been an interesting couple of weeks since he'd formed somewhat of a friendship with the woman. After their discovery that when he wasn't mad, she wasn't prone to seep blood everywhere, they discovered they got along fairly well. Sure she was still talking like she was miles above him, but at least she didn't seem to pointedly hate him anymore. And he could forgive her for the actual doctorate.   
He turned to do some paper work, chuckling to himself as he discovered she had left her favourite ECHO recorder on his desk. He supposed he could just keep hold of it until she came looking for it rather than try and return it now. It was obvious she wanted to bury herself in research on slag.   
He wasn't at his desk ten minutes before he heard the door creak open again.   
"Forget something did you darlin'?" He asked without looking.  
"Uh...nope...." He turned to look now, realising it was the young Mecromancer and the Psycho standing at his door. He stood.   
"What can I do for ya?"   
"Who are you calling darling?" Gaige asked, only to receive a rather grumpy expression in return.   
"None of your darn business, now tell me what you want."  
Gaige shrugged, then motioned for Kreig. The rather large man stepped over and dropped a couple of dead stalkers onto one of the beds.  
"A little birdy told me you were looking for skag parts. Z's got more if you need it."  
Zed grinned a bit and rubbed his hands together. Now that would get him through his next experiment.   
"I suppose I better pay you for your uh..contribution to the clinic." They haggled a bit over price before the two vault hunters headed for the door. Kreig however stopped before he reached the door, sniffing the air.   
"Pretty goggles lady been here!" He declared suddenly. Gaige appeared at the door.   
"AH-HA! I KNEW I saw Tannis walking away from here! Spill it! You're getting laid!"   
Zed seemed to snap at that idea. He hurriedly tried to force the Pyscho out the door.   
"I ain't doing anything with her, I ain't got no interest in that department. Now, if you excuse me I got work to do." Once they were out, and before the Mecromancer could say anything more, he shut the door with a slam. Then he sighed. Like she would want anything to do with an older man like him.  
His eyes narrowed. Did it bother him the fact that nothing romantic would ever happen between them? Granted he'd become used to her presence and to some degree she allowed him to get closer than anyone else. He stood up straight off the door. No. He wasn't going to let himself dig out that can of worms, nor was he going to let the girls words get to him. He was a full grown man for Christ's sake.

It was a full three hours later that Patricia Tannis came wandering back into his office asking about her ECHO. Clearly she'd been more into her slag experiments than what he'd thought. In that time he'd cleaned up the mess the body had caused and put it safely away into one of the cooling units, along with hiding the skags out of sight. Roland would have his head if he found out what he was doing with them.   
"Here you go." He assured her he'd made no alterations to the stuff contained within, nor had he listened into her private thoughts. As curious as he was with what was rolling around in that head of hers, he'd rather do it the old fashion way and talk it out of her. He'd learnt a lot with their dealings over the past few weeks, but there was still so much he had left to learn about the strange woman in front of him. He turned his back as she went to leave, staring down at his desk for a moment. When he heard the door creak open he called out.  
"Trish." She paused, half way through ranting into her ECHO, turning to look at him.  
"Yes?"  
"Would you..um..would you like to-" He was cut off as all of a sudden there was a loud explosion outside, shaking the whole city.  
"Get down!" He was over to her side in an instant, pulling her out of the doorway and inside, slamming the door shut. Another explosion echoed outside, even closer to his doorway than before.   
"Piss!" He swore, glancing out the window. "Damn shields must have gone down, whole city is under moonfire." He felt hands grab his shirt and he realised he'd pulled Tannis protectively in against his chest. However that didn't seem to be the reason for the look on her face. She looked petrified. Suddenly her knees gave way and he followed her down to the ground as the earth shook yet again.   
"Hey, it's alright darlin', I gotcha.." He murmured, keeping her pressed to him as the ground continued to shake. Eventually they shifted into a corner, his back pressed against the wall as she was kept safely tucked into his arms. Sanctuary continued to shake from the shots and from something else, like as if the city was rising. However the ship the city was built on hadn't flown since before he was young.   
Then all of sudden, everything stopped and for a moment he thought they were going to fall. But Sanctuary remained steady. He prodded Patricia gently, who seemed to stir from whatever state she'd fallen into, prying herself from his embrace. The spot she left vacant felt rather cold now. He followed her to his feet, hesitantly opening the door. Outside people were picking themselves up, those who hadn't been smushed to pieces from the moonshots. He sighed.  
"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me." It was almost a joke, but at the same time, there would be many injuries to tend to after this disaster.   
"Thank you Zed."   
"No worries. Are you alright though?" She had frozen up there for a while.  
"It just reminded me of the old times, times when...well..." She trailed off, seeming to not want to mention it all that much. "I feel like I've taken you much for granted lately. You've let me observe your work and furthered my research. And also you protected me today. If there is anything you require from me, I should like to try and oblige."  
"You don't gotta worry about that Trish.."  
"I insist."  
"Fine...uh...go to dinner with me and we'll call it even."   
She looked surprised at his offer, but nodded.  
"Tomorrow night?"  
"Tomorrow night."


	3. Third Times the Charm

He couldn't seem to help the slight spring in his step. He shouldn't be so happy about a simple dinner. He hadn't even expressed that he'd wanted it to be a date and he had a feeling she didn't see it that way. Maybe he could make that purpose a little more clearer to her over the course of the evening. He'd learnt through their various meetings that he had to be blunt, something he was very good at. But he was also good at beating around the bush which is where she often seemed to get confused, all his sarcasm and slang.  
Of course, it didn't take long for the vault hunters, most of whom had finally made it back to the now floating Sanctuary, to notice he was in much fine spirits compared to the grump they usually had to deal with. It wasn't long before they were plotting behind his back and with Tiny Tina thrown into the mix, having come to visit after Sanctuary's relocation, things were about to get explosive very quickly. A plan was soon formulated to find out what was on the good doctors mind.  
Tina decided she would be the one to visit Zed and with a creak, she opened the door to his office. He looked up and smiled beneath the mask seeing the young girl.  
"You wanna come see these arteries explode?" He offered to her and with a wicked grin she pulled up a chair beside him and took the face mask he offered her.   
"Sooooo. What's got you so perky today?" She asked, leaning over to look into the chest Zed had sliced open.   
"That ain't your business, pass me that scalpel." He held out his hand and she dropped the required implement into his hand.   
"Aw, come on girl, you can tell me anything. I just gots to know...is it a..lady friend?" Zed looked over to the girl with a sharp gaze. Tina only smiled wider.  
"I ain't you're girl and.....I got a date okay? Don't you be goin' spreading it around alright?" Tina looked like she was going to jump right off her chair. "Alright?"  
"You gots it. I won't tell nobody, I heard nothing." Tina assured him, though her grin remained, making him question his decision to tell her. Soon enough she got to see her exploding arteries, and once again he failed to get a useable spleen. Tina was then soon off, promising to return sometime before she left. He just assumed she was going to see the vault hunters in HQ. It didn't take them long to deduct who was the woman he was seeing, considering how absent Tannis had been lately.   
Tina did as she was promised, returning after a while from HQ. She hopped up to sit on his desk as he scribbled away some notes about his most recent patient. They spoke a little of his work, before Tina started a conversation he didn't want to dig into.  
"So where's you taking Tannis tonight huh?"  
"I ain't taking her anywhere." How had she guessed? No one else knew unless she'd asked around to see who'd been over more often.  
"Ooooh, a romantic rendezvous here at home then."   
"Drop it Tina." He said, getting to his feet and shifting away.  
"Why you don't want anyone to know your going out with Tannis?" She asked seriously.  
"Cause it's none of their god darn business who I got out with and what I do with them." He snapped, turning on her. Seeming to realise he was loosing his temper, he paused and took a deep breath. "It's just a friendly dinner alright, she ain't my girl, I just helped her out and so we're going to dinner. As friends." He sounded as stressed as he felt. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. Tina shuffled her feet.  
"Sorry.." She mumbled. He sighed again and waved his hand to her.   
"Come 'ere." She cleared the room in three bounds, throwing herself up into his arms.   
"I'm sorry Tina." He mumbled, patting her back gently, before putting her down on her feet again. "You need a wash up kid, look at this dirt on your nose." He used his thumb to smudge it in even more. "And when was the last time you bathed, you smell like explosives."  
Tina laughed, and rubbed at her nose with her sleeve. "It's my aw-nat-u-rawl smell girl." She insisted as the door finally opened to admit a rather flustered Tannis.  
"I do believe the vault hunters have gotten the wrong impression of our meeting tonight." She announced, a huddle of them appearing in the doorway. Tina scampered over to them. He coughed and marched over, slamming the door in their faces, then shifting back over to Tannis.  
"I told Tina about it okay, I didn't think she'd tell anyone else." He said in a lowered tone, trying to ward off the obvious eaves droppers.  
"They are led to believe it is a date! A date between us! I agreed to a dinner, not a date!" She said in an almost angry whisper.   
"It doesn't have to be a date, it can be just dinner between friends?" He tried to offer.  
"I'm not adverse to a date I just want it to be made clear!" She poked him hard in the chest.  
"Huh?" He dropped his quiet tone. She went back to speaking normally as well.  
"I said I'm not adverse to the idea of a date--" He cut her off with a hand over her mouth. He lowered his voice once again.  
"So you wouldn't mind if it was a date tonight?"   
She removed his hand from her mouth, matching his soft tone.  
"No, I wouldn't mind." A smile crept onto his face. "Eight o'clock sharp at--"  
"At the Holy Spirits, I know." He finished standing and allowing her to pass. She basically had to kick her way out of the vault hunters, eager to know the gossip. But neither were telling.

It seemed the vault hunters hadn't managed to overhear the details of where they were going, and didn't have the nerve to cross Zed on his night off. It would be just the two of them, and a bar full of drunk Zafords, how romantic. He met Patricia at the fast travel station, they'd agree just normal clothes would do. Without much talk they headed out to Overlook, walking through the town side by side. He wasn't sure whether she would take his arm, or his hand, and it seemed she was at a small loss about that as well. He drew up conversation to help them past the initial awkwardness until they got into the bar and got seated upstairs in a booth. The privacy was good, and their weren't as many drunks up there with them.   
"I'll just have a skag burger thanks." He said, handing back the menu.   
"Just the stew please." She handed back her menu, as well as ordering two waters. At least there was no violent expulsions of blood from her face.  
"You're gettin better with that, no blood." He said as their waters arrived.   
"It's been an interesting endeavour myself. Since forming a closer friendship with not only yourself but the vault hunters, I find myself...a little..less intimidated by people. Of course I still get nose bleeds when the strangers talk to me on the streets of Sanctuary but...not as bad as they used to be." He listened intently, enjoying the way she spoke and the way her mouth moved when she did.   
"Is there something on my face?" She asked, and he realised he'd been staring.  
"No..." He took a sip of water to avoid finishing his sentence. Sure they agreed it was a date now but he wasn't sure his admission of watching her lips would go down very well. She cocked her head but didn't question it thankfully. It was then their food arrived and the two dug in, idle chatter between them as they ate.   
She seemed to want to bring up his unspoken words, but at the same time seemed to think better of it and he was thankful for it. Once their meal was done though, he found himself looking back at her again. She'd started prattling along about her research at some point during the meal and now the conversation continued. It was a little more one sided than it should have been, but he could only just barely get his "hmm" and "huh"'s in the short spaces she left between sentences.   
After she'd finished talking, and he'd managed to digest what she'd been saying, it had been a lot of information to take in at once, they stood, paid and headed back outside. The instant they stepped outside, the wind seemed to pick up, sending a chill across them.  
"Here." He wrapped his coat around her shoulders, seeing her thin frame shake as the cold hit her. She wasn't exactly built for the sudden harsh changes of pandorian weather. He was born and raised in Fyrestone, he'd adapted long ago to the weather this planet could suddenly dish out. She gave a soft word of thanks, wrapping the coat around her tighter. Then she eyeballed him as they walked back towards the fast travel.  
"Perhaps your arm could provide a reliable source of heat?" She asked, moving closer to his side.   
"Huh? Oh." He slung an arm across her shoulder casually, pulling her into his side. He was glad he showered before this and from the faint scent coming from her, it seemed like she had too. She didn't seem all to bothered by his closeness, even leaning her head against his shoulder.   
"You are very warm.." She murmured, like it was a fascinating scientific discovery.  
"You've been this close to me before."  
"At that time I was in the wrong mindset to be paying much attention to your temperature. Now that I do...I find it...most pleasant. Perhaps I could stand to have you hold me more often...even when the weather isn't freezing."  
He gave her a sideways grin and a squeeze. That didn't sound too bad from his end. They made it to the fast travel and he rubbed her arm absently as they waited for the blasted machine to send them home. The Overlook station was a bit wonky, having been thrown in only recently after the vault hunters return to Sanctuary. He kept telling Scooter he should get out there and have a look at the damn thing to make sure it wasn't going to shut down the whole fast travel system.  
Finally it seemed to decide to send them on their way, appearing back at the station in Sanctuary. Still keeping his arm around her, they wandered out, letting her guide him to where she wanted to be dropped off. They stopped outside one of the homes near HQ and she shifted from under his arm. She offered his jacket back to him and he took it, slinging it over his arm.  
"Thank you for tonight...I quite enjoyed myself."  
"Same here Darlin'." He said with a smile and a nod.  
"Perhaps we could go again sometime."  
"We should. Stop round by my office and we'll make a date yeah?"  
She nodded and stepped over to doorway before disappearing inside. Of course, he hadn't expected a goodnight kiss or anything, yet he stood there absently for a few moments, scratching his jaw. He shook his head then and moved on past HQ. The vault hunters were on the balcony as he walked past. A drunk gunzerker called out to him, waving his favourite rocket launcher.  
"You have a nice night!?" He called with slurred words.   
"We are pleased for you, and your successful courting, of Doctor Tannis!" Zer0 announced loudly before the others could stop him, a :D face appearing on his mask. Zed narrowed his eyes.  
"You lot better stay quiet about it before I get my buzz axe and ya become my next experiment." He warned and it was only encouragement for them, laughter ringing through their ranks. He rolled his eyes and kept walking back home. Perhaps this was the start of something very good.


End file.
